Systems and methods for providing time and location dependent bandwidth in wireless networks

ABSTRACT

A subscription detail may be provided, where the subscription detail indicating quality of service levels for a subscriber device seeking to access a wireless Local Area Network (LAN) maintained by a base station, the subscription detail indicating a first quality of service in a first network context, and the subscription detail indicating a second quality of service in a second network context. A particular subscriber device is detected in a wireless LAN. Access over the wireless LAN is provided to the particular subscriber device at a first quality of service level based on a first network context in accordance with a subscription detail. Access over the wireless LAN is provided to the particular subscriber device at a second quality of service level based on the second network context in accordance with the subscription detail.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/145,780, filed Dec. 31, 2013 and entitled, “Systems andMethods for Providing Time and Location Dependent Bandwidth in WirelessNetworks,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/764,584, filed Feb. 11, 2013 and entitled “Systems and Methods forProviding Time and Location Dependent Bandwidth in Wireless Networks,”now U.S. Pat. No. 8,619,697, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/748,450, filed May 14, 2007 and entitled“Systems and Methods for Providing Time and Location Dependent Bandwidthin Wireless Networks,” now U.S. Pat. No. 8,385,271, which claimspriority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/747,171filed May 12, 2006 and entitled “Location/Date/Time DependentBandwidth,” all of which applications are incorporated by referenceherein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to wireless networks and moreparticularly to provisioning of bandwidth in wireless networks.

2. Description of Related Art

Wireless Broadband Access (“WBA”) based systems have been designed tohave operational characteristics that are indistinguishable from Cableor DSL methods of broadband access from the viewpoint of the customer.However, the mobility of subscribers and the architecture of wirelessnetworks can prohibit service providers from offering levels of servicebased on characteristics of subscribers. For example, a residentialsubscriber may use a portable computing device at home and in theoffice. Since commercial subscription plans tend to provide higherbandwidth and richer feature sets at premium rates, the residential usergenerally receives inadequate service and the service provider may notrealize optimized income for all subscribers.

The latterly described issue is one of many quality-of-service andsubscription level enforcement issues associated with wireless networks.Wireless Broadband Access (“WBA”) is used for packet switched networksfor Internet Access, PSTN Voice Line transport and many other purposes.WBA may serve different locations and different types of subscribers andindividual subscribers may move from one location to the other andengage in different activities at each location. For examples, aconsumer may buy a Wireless Modem (WM) to connect to WBA at home under asubscription that provides 1 Mbps access for a first price. Duringweekdays the consumer uses the WM at the workplace for access to theInternet. However, the provider sells Internet service to businesses ata higher rate than to residential users. Thus, a provider with a mixedcustomer base of consumers and businesses may lose revenue because ofsuch use.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention enable the provision of enhancedservice in wireless networks independent of subscriber station and CPEconfiguration and consistent with the characteristics of wired ADSL orcable network services. Accordingly, inherent differences betweenwireless and wired network designs are accommodated.

Certain embodiments provide methods by which quality of service can beadjusted dynamically by location, time of day and other factorsimpacting network infrastructure business. Adjustment of quality ofservice can include modifying the amount of bandwidth provisioned for asubscriber, priority assignments and network response times. Providersmay dynamically alter quality of service based on subscriptionscontracted with users that specify levels of service for specified usesof the network where the uses may include geographic usage, time-of dayusage, day of week usage and type of traffic.

A system may include a subscriptions database for storing a subscriptiondetail, the subscription detail indicating quality of service levels fora subscriber device seeking to access a wireless Local Area Network(LAN) maintained by a base station, the subscription detail indicating afirst quality of service in a first network context, and thesubscription detail indicating a second quality of service in a secondnetwork context. The system may further include a management systemcoupled to the subscriptions database and to the base station. Themanagement system may be configured to instruct the base station to:detect a particular subscriber device in the wireless LAN; provideaccess over the wireless LAN to the particular subscriber device at afirst quality of service level based on the first network context inaccordance with the subscription detail; and provide access over thewireless LAN to the particular subscriber device at a second quality ofservice level based on the second network context in accordance with thesubscription detail.

In an embodiment, the first network access context comprises a firsttime corresponding to first properties of the network connection. Thesecond network access context may comprise a second time correspondingto second properties of the network connection.

In some embodiments, the first network access context comprises a firstlocation corresponding to first properties of the network connection.The second network access context can comprise a second locationcorresponding to second properties of the network connection.

In various embodiments, the first quality of service level comprises aresidential quality of service level, and the second quality of servicelevel comprises a business quality of service level. The first qualityof service level may comprise a first bandwidth, and the second qualityof service level comprises a second bandwidth different than the firstbandwidth. The management system may distribute the subscription detailto the base station.

In a method, a subscription detail may be provided, where thesubscription detail indicating quality of service levels for asubscriber device seeking to access a wireless Local Area Network (LAN)maintained by a base station, the subscription detail indicating a firstquality of service in a first network context, and the subscriptiondetail indicating a second quality of service in a second networkcontext. A particular subscriber device is detected in a wireless LAN.Access over the wireless LAN is provided to the particular subscriberdevice at a first quality of service level based on a first networkcontext in accordance with a subscription detail. Access over thewireless LAN is provided to the particular subscriber device at a secondquality of service level based on the second network context inaccordance with the subscription detail.

In an embodiment, the first network access context comprises a firsttime corresponding to first properties of the network connection. Thesecond network access context may comprise a second time correspondingto second properties of the network connection.

In some embodiments, the first network access context comprises a firstlocation corresponding to first properties of the network connection.The second network access context can comprise a second locationcorresponding to second properties of the network connection.

In various embodiments, the first quality of service level comprises aresidential quality of service level, and the second quality of servicelevel comprises a business quality of service level. The first qualityof service level may comprise a first bandwidth, and the second qualityof service level comprises a second bandwidth different than the firstbandwidth. The method may further comprise distributing the subscriptiondetail to the base station.

A base station may include a network interface configured to access asubscriptions database for storing a subscription detail, thesubscription detail indicating quality of service levels for asubscriber device seeking to access a wireless Local Area Network (LAN)maintained by the base station, the subscription detail indicating afirst quality of service in a first network context, and thesubscription detail indicating a second quality of service in a secondnetwork context. The base station may further include a managementsystem configured to: detect a particular subscriber device in thewireless LAN; provide access over the wireless LAN to the particularsubscriber device at a first quality of service level based on the firstnetwork context in accordance with the subscription detail; and provideaccess over the wireless LAN to the particular subscriber device at asecond quality of service level based on the second network context inaccordance with the subscription detail

In an embodiment, the first network access context comprises a firsttime corresponding to first properties of the network connection. Thesecond network access context may comprise a second time correspondingto second properties of the network connection.

In some embodiments, the first network access context comprises a firstlocation corresponding to first properties of the network connection.The second network access context can comprise a second locationcorresponding to second properties of the network connection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structural and functional aspects of the invention will becomeunderstood by those skilled in the art by reference to the followingdetailed description when taken in conjunction with the appendeddrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a simple example of a wireless network;

FIG. 2 depicts a simplified example in which bandwidth is allocatedaccording to location date and time; and

FIG. 3 is an overview flowchart describing an example of bandwidthallocation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detailwith reference to the drawings, which are provided as illustrativeexamples so as to enable those skilled in the art to practice theinvention. Notably, the figures and examples below are not meant tolimit the scope of the present invention to a single embodiment, butother embodiments are possible by way of interchange of some or all ofthe described or illustrated elements. Wherever convenient, the samereference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to sameor like parts. Where certain elements of these embodiments can bepartially or fully implemented using known components, only thoseportions of such known components that are necessary for anunderstanding of the present invention will be described, and detaileddescriptions of other portions of such known components will be omittedso as not to obscure the invention. In the present specification, anembodiment showing a singular component should not be consideredlimiting; rather, the invention is intended to encompass otherembodiments including a plurality of the same component, and vice-versa,unless explicitly stated otherwise herein. Moreover, applicants do notintend for any term in the specification or claims to be ascribed anuncommon or special meaning unless explicitly set forth as such.Further, the present invention encompasses present and future knownequivalents to the components referred to herein by way of illustration.

Certain embodiments of the invention enable the provision of enhancedservice in wireless networks independent of subscriber station and CPEconfiguration. Certain embodiments enable the provision of wirelessbroadband access service that appears to have the same characteristicsas wired ADSL or cable network services and inherent differences betweenwireless and wired network designs are accommodated and concealed asappropriate. For example, the differences between wired and wirelessservices include the effects of unpredictable fading that can occur inwireless networks causing subscriber stations to occasionally disconnectfrom one base station and reconnect to a different base station.

With reference to FIG. 1, certain embodiments employ an architecturethat can be implemented without significantly increasing systemoperational complexity and requiring little additional computationpower. In one example, a subscriber station 14 includes a networkinterface that can detect a first base station 11 and a second basestation 12. Subscriber equipment can be connected through the networkinterface. The subscriber equipment can include one or more personalcomputers 16 and mobile devices 18 including PDAs cell phones, tabletcomputers and other such equipment. The subscriber station can beintegrated with the subscriber equipment 16 and 18 or can be provided asa network interface in customer premises equipment such as routers,switches, bridges and so on.

The base stations 11 and 12 may provide signals from the same network 20using same or different frequencies, same or different modulationschemes and same or different data encoding standards. In someembodiments, subscriber station 14 may be configurable to communicatewith base stations of different wireless networks. Certain aspects ofthe invention facilitate the construction of low-cost, reliable networksusing, at the core, existing wireless infrastructure and components.Certain embodiments provide configuration methods together with aplurality of components, features and capabilities that address issuesexisting in conventional systems. In one example, the providedcomponents can include debugging and maintenance tools that easemanagement of layer-2 networks that are otherwise difficult to maintainand debug due to their inherently flat topography. Debugging andmaintenance tools may be configured and operated using customizedconfiguration methods and interfaces. In many embodiments, thearchitecture may be implemented from combinations of existing networkequipment.

Referring now to FIG. 2, in a simplified example, a wireless networksubscriber may connect to a network 20 such as the Internet or someother private or public network. The subscriber may connect to thenetwork 20 through any of two or more base stations 220 and 222according to factors that may include location (see 26 and 28), time ofday, user selection, system provider configuration and so on. In onesimple example, a connection to network 20 can be established withlaptop 24 a located at the subscriber's home 26 using first base station220. The subscriber may then transport (25) the laptop 24 b to abusiness location 28 and reconnect (23) to network 20 through secondbase station 222.

Certain embodiments of the invention provide components that can detectthe location of the laptop 24 a, 24 b based on the point of entry 220,222 to the network 20. Point of entry may be determined for the purposeof configuring service level, but in at least some embodiments, theidentity of the base station 220, 222 through which the subscriberequipment 24 a, 24 b accesses the network 20 may be captured for otherreasons including billing reasons and to enable the provision oflocalized service and so on.

In certain embodiments, location of the subscriber equipment may bedetermined by various methods including triangulation, globalpositioning system (GPS) based methods, user input and other means.Triangulation methods may include identifying location of the subscriberequipment by identifying base stations that can receive signals from thesubscriber system. Triangulation may also include calculating positionbased on signal strength received at or from a plurality of basestations. GPS methods typically involve accessing GPS locationinformation obtained by the subscriber equipment. Furthermore, users ofthe subscriber equipment may select a mode of usage when connecting tothe system. Subscribers may contract for different service levels atdifferent times of day.

Certain embodiments provide methods by which quality of service can beadjusted dynamically by location, time of day and other factorsimpacting network infrastructure business. Adjustment of quality ofservice can include modifying the amount of bandwidth provisioned for asubscriber, priority assignments and network response times. In certainembodiments, Wireless Broadband Access (“WBA”) base stations used tomanage air-links can be controlled by a network element that distributesbandwidth using factors including location, date, day of the week andtime. WBAs can operate to control bandwidth usage by individualsubscribers and can move a Wireless Medium (“WM”) from one BS to theother.

Providers may dynamically alter quality of service based onsubscriptions contracted with users that specify levels of service forspecified uses of the network 20 where the uses may include geographicusage, time-of day usage, day of week usage and type of traffic. In oneexample, business users may contract for increased bandwidth duringnormal business hours and reduced bandwidth at other times. In anotherexample, a consumer may subscribe to bandwidth for use at home and theprovider may reduce bandwidth if the consumer accesses the network 20while away from the consumer's home area. Detection of user location canrely on determining that the currently connected base station is not inthe vicinity of the consumer's home address. In one example, bandwidthcan be controlled by physical location such that a residentialsubscriber may obtain a maximum 1 Mbps while at home (or while in aresidential area) but, when subscriber connects equipment in a businessdistrict, the subscriber's link is restricted to 256 Kbps to reflect thedifferences in residential and business subscription pricing.

In another example, quality of service can be controlled to provideresidential and business subscribers with variable bandwidths. Thusbandwidth allocated to a subscriber can be changed at the start of theworking day and again at the end of the working day. In someembodiments, a residential subscriber may experience a drop in bandwidthat the start of the business day while business subscribers may obtainincreased or flat bandwidth. In another example, a subscription can bestructured to provide levels or quality of service based on location ofconnection and time of day and date. Thus, bandwidth in a businessdistrict on a public holiday may be decreased to enable an increase inbandwidth to residential subscribers. In certain embodiments, providerscan sell subscribers differentiated services by controlling bandwidthbased on location, date and time.

FIG. 3 illustrates a process for determining level of service to beprovided to a subscriber. At step 300, the subscriber is identified whenconnecting to the network 20. Identification may be made based onequipment identification or by an authorization system such asUserID/password system or other authentication system. Upon connectingto a network base station, the system may acquire location informationassociated with the subscriber equipment. For example, locationinformation may be derived from the geographic location of the basestation, GPS information provided by the subscriber station, input fromthe subscriber/user and by triangulation or other means.

In certain embodiments, location information is gathered duringregistration of the subscriber station by the base station at step 302.During registration, subscription information can be accessed todetermine level of service associated with the subscriber station. Atstep 304, the location information may be used to determine ifresidential service level should be provided at step 310. Time of day,day of week and other temporal information can be used in determiningwhether residential service levels should be applied at step 304.

In certain embodiments, a clear determination of level of service maynot be determinable from a combination of location and temporalinformation. For example, the subscriber equipment may be connectedduring business hours at a location that is not specifically identifiedas either residential or commercial. One example may be mixed-use areasof a city; another example may be the connection of the subscriberequipment in a different city or in a location that is not associated bycontract or otherwise with either residential or commercial use. In suchcases, the level of service provided may be determined at step 306 basedon contract terms, patterns of usage, user or subscriber input andnature of communication requested. Where the use is determined to becommercial, and appropriate level of service may be provided at step308.

Quality of service may be controlled centrally or locally. In centrallycontrolled networks, commands are typically dispatched from a managementsystem 19 at predetermined intervals. These intervals may correspond totransition times or may be transmitted at fixed intervals. In someembodiments, provisioning information derived from subscription details190 can be distributed to and maintained at base stations 11 and 12 andcan be updated as required. In many embodiments, quality of serviceinformation is loaded at base stations 11 and 12 when the networkcontrolled by the base station 11 and 12 identifies addition or deletionof a device and when the base station 11 and 12 is initiated.

In certain embodiments, quality of service can be adjusted dynamicallyby location, time of day and other factors impacting networkinfrastructure business. Wireless Broadband Access (“WBA”) base stationsused to manage air-links can be controlled by a network element (NE)that distributes bandwidth using factors including location, date, dayof the week and time. WBAs can operate to control bandwidth usage byindividual subscribers and can move a Wireless Medium (“WM”) from one BSto the other.

In certain embodiments, bandwidth is controlled by physical location.For example, a residential subscriber to a 1 Mbps link obtains suchbandwidth at home in a residential area. However, subscriber's equipmentis mobile and, when subscriber connects equipment in a businessdistrict, subscriber's link is restricted to 256 Kbps to reflect thedifferences in residential and business subscription pricing. In anotherexample, residential and business subscribers can be provided withvariable bandwidths. Thus an NE can change the bandwidth allocated to asubscriber at the start of the working day and again at the end of theworking day. In some embodiments, a residential subscriber mayexperience a drop in bandwidth at the start of the business day whilebusiness subscribers' may obtain an increase or flat bandwidth throughthe start of day transition. In another example, a subscription can bestructured to provide levels or quality of service based on location ofconnection and time of day and date. Thus, bandwidth in a businessdistrict on a public holiday may be decreased to enable an increase inbandwidth to residential subscribers. In certain embodiments, providerscan sell subscribers differentiated services by controlling bandwidthbased on location, date and time.

Additional Descriptions of Certain Aspects of the Invention

Certain embodiments of the invention provide a method for allocatingbandwidth in a wireless network, comprising detecting at a base station,entry of subscriber equipment into a wireless network, determininglocation of the subscriber equipment, and based on the determinedlocation, providing a level of service selected from a plurality ofservice levels available to a subscriber, each service level beingassociated with one or more locations. In some of these embodiments,determining the location includes identifying the location of the basestation. In some of these embodiments, the location is determined basedon information provided by the subscriber equipment. In some of theseembodiments, the provided information includes information obtained froma global positioning system. In some of these embodiments, the providedinformation includes information obtained from a user of the subscriberequipment. In some of these embodiments, the location is determinedbased on information preconfigured by the subscriber. In some of theseembodiments, the location is determined based on informationpreconfigured by a provider of the plurality of service levels. In someof these embodiments, the location is identified with an activity of auser of the subscriber equipment. In some of these embodiments, theactivity is a business activity. In some of these embodiments, theactivity is a non-commercial activity. In some of these embodiments, thelocation is determined to be one of a residence and a business. In someof these embodiments, the location is determined to be one of acommercial location and a non-commercial location. In some of theseembodiments, the location is determined to be one of a business locationand a non-business location. In some of these embodiments, selection ofthe level of service is further based on time of day. In some of theseembodiments, selection of the level of service is further based on theday of week in which level of service is provided. In some of theseembodiments, selection of the level of service is further based on dateand time of provision of the level of service.

Although the present invention has been described with reference tospecific exemplary embodiments, it will be evident to one of ordinaryskill in the art that various modifications and changes may be made tothese embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope ofthe invention. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to beregarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed:
 1. A system comprising: a subscriptions database for storing a subscription detail, the subscription detail indicating quality of service levels for a subscriber device seeking to access a wireless Local Area Network (LAN) maintained by a base station, the subscription detail indicating a first quality of service in a first network context, and the subscription detail indicating a second quality of service in a second network context; a management system coupled to the subscriptions database and to the base station, the management system configured to instruct the base station to: detect a particular subscriber device in the wireless LAN; provide access over the wireless LAN to the particular subscriber device at a first quality of service level based on the first network context in accordance with the subscription detail; and provide access over the wireless LAN to the particular subscriber device at a second quality of service level based on the second network context in accordance with the subscription detail.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first network access context comprises a first time corresponding to first properties of the network connection.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the second network access context comprises a second time corresponding to second properties of the network connection.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first network access context comprises a first location corresponding to first properties of the network connection.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the second network access context comprises a second location corresponding to second properties of the network connection.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the first quality of service level comprises a residential quality of service level, and the second quality of service level comprises a business quality of service level.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the first quality of service level comprises a first bandwidth, and the second quality of service level comprises a second bandwidth different than the first bandwidth.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the management system distributes the subscription detail to the base station.
 9. A method comprising: providing a subscription detail, the subscription detail indicating quality of service levels for a subscriber device seeking to access a wireless Local Area Network (LAN) maintained by a base station, the subscription detail indicating a first quality of service in a first network context, and the subscription detail indicating a second quality of service in a second network context; detecting a particular subscriber device in a wireless LAN; providing access over the wireless LAN to the particular subscriber device at a first quality of service level based on a first network context in accordance with a subscription detail; and provide access over the wireless LAN to the particular subscriber device at a second quality of service level based on the second network context in accordance with the subscription detail.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first network access context comprises a first time corresponding to first properties of the network connection.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the second network access context comprises a second time corresponding to second properties of the network connection.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the first network access context comprises a first location corresponding to first properties of the network connection.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the second network access context comprises a second location corresponding to second properties of the network connection.
 14. The method of claim 9, wherein the first quality of service level comprises a residential quality of service level, and the second quality of service level comprises a business quality of service level.
 15. The method of claim 9, wherein the first quality of service level comprises a first bandwidth, and the second quality of service level comprises a second bandwidth different than the first bandwidth.
 16. The method of claim 10, further comprising distributing the subscription detail to the base station.
 19. A base station comprising: a network interface configured to access a subscriptions database for storing a subscription detail, the subscription detail indicating quality of service levels for a subscriber device seeking to access a wireless Local Area Network (LAN) maintained by the base station, the subscription detail indicating a first quality of service in a first network context, and the subscription detail indicating a second quality of service in a second network context; a management system configured to: detect a particular subscriber device in the wireless LAN; provide access over the wireless LAN to the particular subscriber device at a first quality of service level based on the first network context in accordance with the subscription detail; and provide access over the wireless LAN to the particular subscriber device at a second quality of service level based on the second network context in accordance with the subscription detail.
 20. The base station of claim 19, wherein the first network access context comprises a first time corresponding to first properties of the network connection.
 21. The base station of claim 20, wherein the second network access context comprises a second time corresponding to second properties of the network connection.
 22. The base station of claim 19, wherein the first network access context comprises a first location corresponding to first properties of the network connection.
 23. The base station of claim 22, wherein the second network access context comprises a second location corresponding to second properties of the network connection. 